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Ellis
Ellis is one of the four playable Survivors in Left 4 Dead 2. He is the youngest and most socially immature. A junior mechanic by trade in the city of Savannah, he presents himself as a goofy, beer-loving country guy with an artless and naive world view. According to Chet of Valve, he is "extremely excited" about everything, like managing to visit a concert and being able to kill a lot of zombies, occasionally doing both at the same time, like in the "Dark Carnival" finale. Personality-wise Ellis is open, friendly, inclusive and highly (even unrealistically) optimistic. In common with most young men, he is a risk taker and believes himself to be indestructible. He is also easily distracted, often breaking into rants about things that have nothing to do with the current situation, far-fetched stories about his friend Keith and indulging in a flight of fantasy about marrying Zoey and taking her off on a cross-country road trip: all at the most inconvenient of times. Ellis' facial features are portrayed by Jesy McKinney and he is voiced by Eric Ladin. Official Description Relationships with other Survivors Ellis's irrepressible optimism leads to some mixed relationships with the other team members, who cannot figure out if Ellis is genuinely oblivious to the danger they face or if he is highly resilient, tough-minded personality who chooses to mask or defend it behind a light-hearted surface persona. Whatever is supposed to be the truth, Ellis presents to his fellow team members the view that the Zombie Apocalypse is a thrill-laden adventure whilst his open and friendly nature allows him to form affectionate bonds with his team effortlessly. Ellis is quick to claim everyone as his friends, as he will sometimes say "This is what friends are for." when using a med-kit, or will tell a fallen teammate "I ain't leavin' you!" and he mourns the most when any member of the group dies. In overall terms, Ellis can be viewed as the group's "little brother". Although his seeming obliviousness to the severity of the situation implies that he is rather naive or even unintelligent, this view is gravely mistaken: he is not stupid, as he proves many times over in combat and most notably when he comes up with the plan of using Jimmy Gibbs Junior's car to escape the mall. *'Coach' ::Coach and Ellis, both being natives of Georgia, get on well together and have a shared useful understanding of local culture and geography which enables them to navigate Savannah and to make life-saving connections to Jimmy Gibbs Junior, the Midnight Riders, and the Whispering Oaks Amusement Park. However, being true to his profession, Coach is inclined to treat Ellis as an immature rookie team member on many occasions."Man, sometimes it feels like we're baby-sitting, don't it?" --Coach Although he seems to care about the kid, he is not above making at least one condescending judgment about Ellis not being "right in the head" or telling the original Survivors (in The Passing) that Ellis can be left behind to make room for them: although Coach is probably joking. *'Nick' ::Nick generally patronizes Ellis and makes fun of him on several occasions, most particularly in the early campaigns when Nick does not as yet have much respect for Ellis' fighting ability. For example, when the player looks at Ellis when playing as Nick and uses the "Vocalize" button, sometimes Nick will say Ellis' name in a mocking southern accent. There is never any outright aggression in Nick's stance and this could be construed as simple alpha-male banter designed to put Ellis in his place in the pecking order. In return Ellis never takes offense and even seems to look up to Nick a bit, starting conversations with him such as having the same suit or sometimes being excited at Nick shooting the helicopter pilot. Once his position in the group is secure, Nick will begin to compliment Ellis on his shooting or engage him in small talk such asking if the Midnight Riders are any good''*in response to Ellis pointing out the Midnight Riders* "Never heard of em. They any good?"'' --Nick. ::Though it may seem that Nick is less caring towards the younger man, he has a soft side too; if Ellis dies, he will sometimes apologize for his behavior."Hey, Ellis, you know all that shit I was saying? I was just joking."Ellis is always sad to see Nick die. The only time Ellis is really angered by Nick occurs in an argument over the relative merits of horses for riding or as food. Ellis also may sometimes call the Spitter "Nick's mom!". Overall, Ellis sees Nick as a very good friend, as in The Passing, when he suggests that the two of them get a tattoo with 'Bros' on it or when he responds to Nick's exclamation of "I hate you Ellis," with "Well I still like you, Nick.". *'Rochelle' ::Rochelle is the most forbearing towards Ellis, referring to him as "sweetie" whenever Ellis trails off into one of his long-winded Keith stories. Although Rochelle seems to have a more realistic grasp of the situation and often sides with Nick, she never patronizes Ellis and is always patient with him."Well, he is making the best out of a bad situation..." --Rochelle Much of this can be attributed to the fact that she is some years older than Ellis, better educated, is used to dealing with different classes of people in her professional media career and has a vastly greater fund of world experiences. Ellis is unfailingly polite toward Rochelle, referring to her as "Miss" throughout the first Dead Center chapter. Rochelle perceives Ellis as a non-threatening, "what you see is what you get" character and explains why Ellis is the only one who is able to make her laugh. Overall theirs is a "big sister - little brother" relationship and this is why Rochelle stands up to Nick when he picks on Ellis' crush on Zoey and tells Ellis that in order to win Zoey's heart, "you just be your sweet self." He does tend to get closer to Rochelle than his fellow teammates. *'Francis' ::Ellis seems to like Francis. He refers to him as a cool guy a number of times and believes he is trustworthy. He takes Rochelle's joke about having a respect on him lightheartedly. He and Francis will even talk about cars and motorcycles until they are stopped by Zoey. Both of them also believe that if there are zombies, there must also be vampires and mummies. Their only conflict comes over Jimmy Gibbs Junior, who Francis either believes to be a guy or a dog who sold tacos."He sold them all the time, he was a great taco man." --Francis''"That's amazing! You mean this car used to belong to the... taco dog?"'' --Francis If Nick or Coach mention that Francis will probably steal Jimmy Gibbs Junior's car, Ellis repeats "I will kill him," and tells the other Survivors that their mission to New Orleans has changed and that Francis is now their target. *'Zoey' ::Ellis has a huge crush on Zoey. He considers it love at first sight."And it was love at first sight, the other four seconds were gravy." --Ellis Coach and Nick tease Ellis about liking Zoey, but Rochelle defends him. Ellis states that he is a nervous wreck when thinking about Zoey and will even tell the others he wants to marry her."You know what? This got me thinkin'. I should totally marry that girl." --Ellis''"Ro, it's the zombie apocalypse. First datin' days are over. Nick, by the way, I'm gonna have to borrow your suit 'cause we're skippin' right to the marriage brother, then we're goin' cross country. Just her, me, and the Jimmy Gibbs Jr."'' In the beginning of The Passing when Ellis tries to talk to Zoey, he will sometimes stutter and ask someone else to talk to her because he is so nervous."Shut up Nick, I am a nervous wreck as it is!" --Ellis. When leaving, Ellis will show sadness at having to leave Zoey and wishes to see her again."Man, I sure hope I get to see her again." --Ellis To some extent Zoey reciprocates this attraction, but not to the same degree as Ellis. On first encounter (when Ellis crumbles into tongue-tied, love-struck embarrassment) she is never anything other than "all business." However at the end of the campaign Zoey thaws somewhat and may wistfully wonder if she will ever see Ellis again or whether if it would have been a better idea to team up with Ellis' group. *'Louis' :: Ellis and Louis get along quite well. Sharing their enthusiasm and optimistic attitudes, they are quick to wish each other the best. Louis finds Ellis funny when Francis and Nick begin to argue. Louis also feels Ellis will "definitely make it to New Orleans," praising him as he leaves. Both seem to be avid video game fans, as both Ellis and Louis reference Counter-Strike in at least one of their quotes. Quotes and Captions See: Ellis/Quotes Notes * Ellis' T-shirt can be unlocked via achievements for Xbox 360 avatars after winning 10 games of Versus mode. * The logo on his T-shirt is a "Bullshifters" logo. Correspondence with the developers led to an email replyhttp://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1041060 from Andrea Wickland, the person responsible for the design. ::The backstory behind the T-shirt spawns from Ellis' love for trucks. We came up with the idea that Ellis and a group of his high school buddies started up their own truck club, which may or may not still exist, and named themselves the Bullshifters with a logo to boot. A play on words, if you hadn't already guessed: "shifters" referring to cars/trucks, "bullshifters" referring to... well, you get the idea. (Valve's genius writer Erik Wolpaw gets all the credit for that one.) ::As for the art, Big Daddy Roth is the influence. He's an artist that is notorious for his motorhead appeal. His style was the obvious one for the shirt design.''http://i48.tinypic.com/16a7doj.jpg * According to one of his lines, Ellis took karate lessons. * Ellis' tattoo on his right arm resembles Lewis' tattoo, a character in the game, ''Primal, on his right arm. * Ellis is the only character to hold a Pistol or Magnum with one hand. Coach also does this when his health is below 40, but this is due to him being in pain or tired. * Ellis is apparently a Roman Catholic. This is assumed because of his remark about Nick's suit: "I had one just like that. At my first Holy Communion in second grade." Another possibility is that he is a member of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America (which is a part of the Anglican Communion). The Episcopal faith also believes in the sacrament of Holy Communion, and the Episcopal Church has a significant membership in the South, including Savannah, Georgia. * Ellis has many stories to share, most involving his friend Keith in his almost fatal accidents. ** One story he tells in The Mall involves another friend of his, Dave. He tells no other story about Dave. * Ellis' line "Die, die, my darlings, die, die, die!" is the same as the lyrics to the song Die, Die My Darling by The Misfits and covered by Metallica. Another line of Ellis' is "I ain't no goddamn sonofabitch", another line used in a song by The Misfits. Thus it is possible that Ellis, or at the very least someone at Valve, is a big Metallica and/or Misfits fan. * Ellis has apparently been interested in firearms since a very young age, according to one of his lines when picking up an assault rifle: "Man, I've wanted this rifle since I was nine." Interestingly enough, he shows apathy when using a heavy machine gun. He has also claimed to learn how to shoot a gun before he could walk.worldc1m1b137.wav * There is a meaning behind Ellis' tattoo, which is answered during the ferry ride in Swamp Fever. It simply means he is 'one badass zombie-killing machine', to which Rochelle responds by jokingly, commenting on his amazing "foresight". He is more than likely just joking and Rochelle plays along with it. * When Ellis picks up a chainsaw, he says "Man, if I lose my hand, I'm stitchin' this thing onto the stump,", a reference to the cult classic horror movie series Evil Dead, wherein the main character, Ash Williams, replaces his severed right hand with a chainsaw after he is forced to cut it off due to evil spirits possessing it. It could also be a hint towards Madworld, where the player is a ex-marine with a chainsaw on their arm. * Ellis used to run an auto repair shop together with his friends before the outbreak. They were also in a band in which Ellis played bass. * Ellis' cap carries the same symbol as a scrap metal removal poster seen in The Parish. * Ellis is referred to as "mechanic" in the game files. * Ellis' name may be a reference to Ellis Square, one of the squares in Savannah's Historical District. The square was demolished to make way for a parking garage, but the parking facility, renamed to Whitaker Street Parking Garage, was moved underground to allow for the square to be rebuilt. * Sometimes when another Survivor dies (mostly Nick), a glitch will occur where he will not speak until the dead survivor is revived, whether it be via a rescue closet or defibrillator. However, since Ellis is the chattiest and the most optimistic of the Survivors, this could be interpreted as him being shocked or speechless from their death. * Occasionally, when a Jockey jumps on Coach's back, he may mistake it for Ellis, possibly due to Ellis' goofy behavior. * Ellis apparently plays Team Fortress 2, another Valve game, as a community line added in The Passing has him stating that a situation is just like Team Fortress 2, similar to Louis' "Oh man, this is just like Counter-Strike!" This line was probably made for the Badwater Basin custom campaign, which was featured on the official Left 4 Dead blog. * In the Zombie Survival Guide Trailer, Ellis is the only one being directly attacked/targeted by the Special Infected ( Mainly the Jockey, Spitter, Charger and Smoker), but he doesn't seem hurt in any way besides fatigue. ** During this trailer, Ellis is usually carrying a Grenade Launcher. ** Also during the trailer, he was shown to carry multiple primary firearms at the same time (Sniper Rifle and Grenade Launcher on back and Combat Shotgun in hand. He also briefly carried an Tactical Shotgun). ** He loses all of the weapons he carries, though how he lost his Grenade Launcher is unknown. His Sniper Rifle is taken by a common infected, he dropped his Tactical Shotgun when a Jockey rode him and he dropped his Combat Shotgun when a Charger pummeled him. * In The Passing, Ellis refers to Jimmy Gibbs Junior's car as Jimmy Gibbs (alternately with Jr. added), personifying the car itself. * Valve's in-game blog revealed the poll results of Thursday 22nd's survey on the community's favorite Left 4 Dead 2 character; for Xbox 360 users, Ellis was first with 43% of the vote, while for PC users, Ellis and Nick shared first place, getting 33% of the vote each. The results were also posted on the official site.http://www.l4d.com/blog/post.php?id=3776 * When activating the jukebox, Ellis will sometimes say "Aaay!" in reference to the character Fonzie from the American sitcom Happy Days. * When boarding a rescue vehicle, Ellis may sometimes yell "Run to Jimmy Gibbs Jr.!" even if it is not the racecar as seen in The Atrium or The Port. * Ellis is the only Survivor to mention "Black and White mode" when he is near death. He will state "I hurt so bad, I don't even see right,", showing that he (and the others) may really have vision like this near death or that his vision may be blurring slightly as tends to happen when someone is close to losing consciousness. * Apart from Keith, Ellis has some other buddies; Paul (Keith's brother) and Dave are the only ones known so far. ** Ellis also mentions his grandfather in one of his stories in The Parish. "One time, my grandpa took me to Memphis and Graceland and..." * On The Hotel in the elevator, Ellis will sometimes mention that he armored up a truck to be 100% zombie-proof and tried to drive away. He then mentions that it was only 99% and that the 1% tore the truck apart (Either by a Tank or by slamming too many Infected with it as seen on Jimmy Gibbs Jr.'s Stock Car). The truck may have been a nod to the Left 4 Dead campaign Crash Course. However, due to the fact that he said he intended to drive himself out of the City, it suggests both that the Truck was in Savannah and not Pennsylvania, and that he was the one to drive it as opposed to the other Survivors. * Ellis, like the Charger, wears overalls, but he has them around his waist like a belt and, sometimes, Nick will (likely as a way to poke fun at Ellis) call him "Overalls", the same as one of the names he uses when seeing a Charger. However, contrary to this, if one were to inspect the texture files AND the model of Ellis, it appears that he is wearing a one-piece Mechanic jumpsuit rather than a set of overalls. This would also make sense because Ellis was a mechanic, and is called one in the game files. * Ellis seems to dislike Jockeys more than any other Infected. * On the default poster for maps and campaigns without a known poster, Ellis still wears his clothes from the beta rather the retail one. * Despite one of his responses when picking up the Baseball Bat, Ellis doesn't wear a watch. * Upon seeing Rochelle kill a Special Infected, he may say "Well Goddamn, Annie Oakley", which is a reference to Annie Oakley, the American sharpshooter. * According to the results for the Blog Post's poll for Week 1, Ellis is the most popular of the Survivors on the Xbox 360, while tying for 1st with Nick on the PC. * On The Sacrifice teaser site, Ellis' hat makes a cameo appearance on the lower left corner of the page. http://www.l4d.com/sacrifice/#mac_content This is because his hat is now an unlockable hat in Team Fortress 2, in celebration of The Sacrifice's release. It, along with the Frying Pan, were given to Team Fortress 2 players who purchased a copy of Left 4 Dead 2 before October 7, 2010. ** Ellis' hat is the second hat in the Left 4 Dead universe to make it into the game, the first being Bill's Hat. ** When Ellis first sees a Bile Jar in the first chapter of the Dead Center campaign, he sometimes says "Man, a jar is no place for bodily functions." This is a possible reference to the Jarate weapon in Team Fortress 2. Jarate is a jar full of urine that is thrown on an enemy. Gallery bg_ellis.jpg|A close up photo of Ellis. Image:Ellistrailer.jpg|Ellis as he appears in the ''Left 4 Dead 2'' E3 2009 teaser. Image:Cutellis.jpg|Ellis as he appeared in E3 version of The Parish poster. Image:Render-ellis.jpg|Ellis with a Magnum as seen in game. File:Ellissymbol.png|The same car design is on Ellis' cap. ellis_1_by_zewtie-d2yc1ig.jpg|Ellis' face Image:OXM0809coverUS.jpg|Ellis and Rochelle on the cover of the August 2009 issue of the Official XBOX magazine. Image:Ellis in real life.jpg|Ellis' face model, Jesy McKinney. 1249107-capture_large.jpg|Eric Ladin, Ellis' voice actor. References Category:The Survivors Category:Left 4 Dead 2